What curricula have you found that work well with your little wigglers? And What curricula would you avoid like the plague?

I will not get my youngest diagnosed because I do not want to hear about medications. He is who he is and we will take it as it comes. That said, I know he'll always need to move more, use his whole body in his learning, and move from activity to activity a bit more often. I still plan on slowly increasing his attention span (for some reason my hubby was concerned that not getting a diagnoses and not getting medication meant that I wasn't going to address his issues at all.)

Replies

My son hasn't been diagnosed either. Fish oil is great to supplement with. Attention gels in particular for the smaller kids is great. They worked good for my son. They must be able to swallow pills though.

I would definitley get a lot of hands on activities that keeps his hands busy. For Language Arts we use Lifepacs. It's not so overwhelming as in presenting itself all at the same time. There are 10 units and they are all divided up into small workbooks. It's a move at your own pace type of curricula. We do one unit a month unless we have a lot of field trips. Then we just keep chuggin along. We def don't do more than one day's worth of work. For Math we use teaching textbooks. This is a self taught(sort of) curricula on the computer(CD-Roms) with an optional workbook and solutions book. It starts at 3rd grade but could be used for a 2nd grader. It depends on what you taught or what they were taught in K and 1st.

For Science we use Apologia Exploring Creation with series. We are using Astronomy this year. I read while they are taking notes. Lots of hands on and there's experiments too.

For History we use Mystery of History. Lots of lapbooks and projects you can do with him that takes the place of sitting and doing seatwork.

Well, if the story is pretty short he can play with his little squeezy thing (full of liquid gel, kind of tries to squirt out of you hands) and pay attention to the story. And when we break chapter books into nightly chapters, he remembers what we read the night before.
I'll look into the kinex, we have some building stuff that is similar.

Quoting jen2150:

Does he sit still while you are reading? My sons does best reading then doing something hands on. His favorite is building materials type projects. K'nex has math set which is awesome.

Quoting bluerooffarm:

Quoting jen2150:

Get a mini- trampoline if you don't have one. My sons learned to count using one. They also used them they needed to burn energy. I liked using hands on materials. Legos for Math, puzzles for geography, play doh worked well as well. Start with 5 minutes at a time and move up from there if he is young.

He has learned to count by bouncing on my exercise ball, I would guess that is similar, but I'll look into a trampoline. I'm not sure where we have the space for it (small house).

My son hasn't been diagnosed either. Fish oil is great to supplement with. Attention gels in particular for the smaller kids is great. They worked good for my son. They must be able to swallow pills though.

I would definitley get a lot of hands on activities that keeps his hands busy. For Language Arts we use Lifepacs. It's not so overwhelming as in presenting itself all at the same time. There are 10 units and they are all divided up into small workbooks. It's a move at your own pace type of curricula. We do one unit a month unless we have a lot of field trips. Then we just keep chuggin along. We def don't do more than one day's worth of work. For Math we use teaching textbooks. This is a self taught(sort of) curricula on the computer(CD-Roms) with an optional workbook and solutions book. It starts at 3rd grade but could be used for a 2nd grader. It depends on what you taught or what they were taught in K and 1st.

For Science we use Apologia Exploring Creation with series. We are using Astronomy this year. I read while they are taking notes. Lots of hands on and there's experiments too.

For History we use Mystery of History. Lots of lapbooks and projects you can do with him that takes the place of sitting and doing seatwork.

Please don't think I am trying to incite a riot of words, but I just want everyone to know that it's not wrong to use medications properly. It is wrong to over-medicate.

I finally put my son on medications. He's 10. Honestly, it was his decision. I knew he was ADHD for years. He's always done well with his school work. It took him more time. So, I allowed for less structured work, more time to complete the work and more breaks to decompress. But, we got to a point where he was not able to concentrate despite knowing how to do the work. He would try to hard he would hyper-focus which gave him headaches and stomach aches.

We finally received a formal evaluation, which was eye-opening because it allowed me to learn more of exactly how his brain processes information. Then, we met with a fabulous specialist who did not judge our homeschooling or my concerns with medications. I was against it because I saw so many children who were little zombies without personality staring into space.

We started him on the lowest dose and it was amazing. The boy is back! Work that used to take an hour now takes 20 minutes. I'm not saying it will be this way for everyone. Just wanted to share.

Balance ball instead of a chair is great for focus. Lots of variation in learning, alternating quiet activities with active ones. For example we will sit a read his poem or story then go do an alphabet letter hunt. We will do a handwriting sheet then play a homemade math game. We also work on the floor more than at a table. We do playdough with alphabet or number cookie cutters, then he gets to just cut, smoosh, and squeeze for awhile. I piece my curriculum from Pinterest, my own collection when I was teaching and several great iPad aps.

I've also not gotten a diagnosis for anything, we're not really sure what the diagnosis would or should be, but I know the pediatrician has spoken with me many times about medicating him or altering his diet. But I ask, after sitting in a doctor's office for 20 to 30 minutes before seeing the doc, who wouldn't be antsy? Anyway, G uses an exercise ball, he's constantly up and acting out scenes from a book, practices his version of martial arts moves, and just generally MOVES. At two we were teaching him breathing and meditation. He is who he is and he has always been this way. I'm going to look for that book recommended earlier, too. I don't believe every instance of differences needs to be medicated, I feel as though that's a crutch for the rest of us, so we don't have to deal with the kid and their needs. I have severe allergies, and growing up I hated people who knew all the answers. Just don't go outside. Just don't keep x in your room (clothes, carpeting, stuffed animals, etc....). Age has made a huge difference in G's life, as he is learning how to control himself, learning to express what he needs. We haven't done the dietary changes, but I know a lot of people swear by them. I think I'd just swear at them. G's 10, by the way, and at 4, he would never have wanted to sit down and do work. But learn? Heck yeah. :)

I'm going to say this as nicely as possible....That's great for you. I'm glad you found what works for your family. This post is specifically for curriculum that does and does not work well for an unmedicated child. It was right there in the title "unmedicated" I could not be more clear. If you wish to have a discussion about medicating an ADHD child, please, make a post about it. I do not want to discuss it and I definately do not want to end up slogging through lots and lots of posts in my thread about medications and their wonder stories. Thank you.

Quoting QueenCreole313:

Please don't think I am trying to incite a riot of words, but I just want everyone to know that it's not wrong to use medications properly. It is wrong to over-medicate.

I finally put my son on medications. He's 10. Honestly, it was his decision. I knew he was ADHD for years. He's always done well with his school work. It took him more time. So, I allowed for less structured work, more time to complete the work and more breaks to decompress. But, we got to a point where he was not able to concentrate despite knowing how to do the work. He would try to hard he would hyper-focus which gave him headaches and stomach aches.

We finally received a formal evaluation, which was eye-opening because it allowed me to learn more of exactly how his brain processes information. Then, we met with a fabulous specialist who did not judge our homeschooling or my concerns with medications. I was against it because I saw so many children who were little zombies without personality staring into space.

We started him on the lowest dose and it was amazing. The boy is back! Work that used to take an hour now takes 20 minutes. I'm not saying it will be this way for everyone. Just wanted to share.

Balance ball instead of a chair is great for focus. Lots of variation in learning, alternating quiet activities with active ones. For example we will sit a read his poem or story then go do an alphabet letter hunt. We will do a handwriting sheet then play a homemade math game. We also work on the floor more than at a table. We do playdough with alphabet or number cookie cutters, then he gets to just cut, smoosh, and squeeze for awhile. I piece my curriculum from Pinterest, my own collection when I was teaching and several great iPad aps.

I do much of that already, thank you for the boost in confidence that I am probably doing some things right! LOL

Which iPad apps have been the most helpful? I hate playdoh *sigh* but from a lot of the other posts it looks like I'm going to have to get over it and pull it out more often! Thanks again!

I've also not gotten a diagnosis for anything, we're not really sure what the diagnosis would or should be, but I know the pediatrician has spoken with me many times about medicating him or altering his diet. But I ask, after sitting in a doctor's office for 20 to 30 minutes before seeing the doc, who wouldn't be antsy? Anyway, G uses an exercise ball, he's constantly up and acting out scenes from a book, practices his version of martial arts moves, and just generally MOVES. At two we were teaching him breathing and meditation. He is who he is and he has always been this way. I'm going to look for that book recommended earlier, too. I don't believe every instance of differences needs to be medicated, I feel as though that's a crutch for the rest of us, so we don't have to deal with the kid and their needs. I have severe allergies, and growing up I hated people who knew all the answers. Just don't go outside. Just don't keep x in your room (clothes, carpeting, stuffed animals, etc....). Age has made a huge difference in G's life, as he is learning how to control himself, learning to express what he needs. We haven't done the dietary changes, but I know a lot of people swear by them. I think I'd just swear at them. G's 10, by the way, and at 4, he would never have wanted to sit down and do work. But learn? Heck yeah. :)

LOL!! I started out swearing at our diet changes, but I've seen better health in hubby and myself too, so I'm a convert! :-)

We've also been doing breathing techniques...some yoga like the polar bear pose and dragon breath really help him when he gets would too tight.

I feel the same way, he is who he is. He loves to learn and I just want to keep fostering that. I like the idea of having him act out the parts of the book. I wonder if puppets would be helpful! You've given me a lot to ponder. Thanks so much!